Global Report Reveals Sharp Rise in Religious Freedom Violations

A new global study has found that nearly 5.4 billion people, or two-thirds of the world’s population, live in countries where they cannot freely practise their faith. The findings come from the Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025, published by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

The report was presented on 21 October in Rome at the Pontifical Patristic Institute “Augustinianum”, during a full-day conference featuring Church leaders, diplomats and experts on human rights.

Since its first publication in 1999, ACN’s biennial Religious Freedom in the World Report has become a key international reference on the state of religious liberty. It is the only global study on religious freedom produced by a non-governmental organization, analysing violations in 196 countries and across all faith communities.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who delivered the opening address, said that restrictions on religious freedom are worsening each year. The largest in its history, spanning more than 1,200 pages, 2025 report shows that serious or very serious violations of religious freedom occurred in 62 countries between January 2023 and December 2024.

Authoritarian regimes, according to the report, are named among the main drivers of persecution with governments in 52 countries using surveillance, censorship, and restrictive laws to control or silence religious life in countries such as China, Iran, Eritrea, and Nicaragua.

In North Korea, all religious practice is banned, with worship punishable by imprisonment or even execution. In Nicaragua, the government has taken away the Church’s legal status and banned public worship.

The study also points to religious extremism, nationalism, armed conflict, and organized crime as major causes of persecution, particularly in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Even in parts of Europe and North America, ACN recorded growing hostility toward religion, with attacks on places of worship and clergy in countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and the United States.

Cardinal Parolin reminded attendees that religious freedom is not only a legal right but also a “pathway to truth and deeper communion with God and neighbour.” He stressed that faith must always be freely chosen, never imposed, saying, “One must and can only respond in one way: freely, that is to say, out of love.”

The importance of the report was also recognized by Pope Leo XIV, who met with ACN staff earlier this month. “For more than twenty-five years, your Religious Freedom in the World Report has been a powerful instrument for raising awareness,” the Pope said. “This report does more than provide information; it bears witness, gives voice to the voiceless, and reveals the hidden suffering of many.”

During the Rome event, ACN also launched a global petition in defence of religious freedom, inspired by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. The petition will collect signatures through ACN’s national offices until November 2026, when it will be presented to international bodies including the United Nations and European Union.

You can read the report here: Religious Freedom Report | ACN International